by political editor Paul Francis

Kent County Council paid its top officers more than £188,000 in bonuses over two years, according to figures released for the first time today.

All councils must now publish the pay, perks, pensions and bonuses of their most senior staff under legislation brought in by the previous government to improve transparency.

The figures published by KCC as part of their accounts cover the last two financial years and show bonuses totalling nearly £53,000 were paid in 2009-2010.

Nearly three times as much was paid the previous year when senior officers, already on six-figure salaries, shared £135,686 in bonuses.

It has also emerged the council paid more than £180,000 to a private consultant to review its highways department.

Marcus Hobbs was taken on as head of business performance and communications and paid the equivalent of £16,715 a month for less than a year's work.

The bonuses for 2009-2010 were shared between eight senior officers,with the highest given to former chief executive Peter Gilroy who retired in May.

He was paid a bonus of £10,615 and his overall remuneration, including pension contributions, was £299,611.

The previous year, he received a bonus of £31,065 on top of his basic salary of £212,300.

Three others each received bonuses of nearly £8,000 on top of their six figure salaries in 2009-2010.

They were Oliver Mills, managing director of adult social services (£7,875); Amanda Honey, communities director (£7,875) and David Cockburn, economic development director (£7,850).

Geoff Wild, director of law and governance, received a bonus of £6,350, taking his earnings to £141,473 while Kevin Harlock, director of commercial services, received £5,000 making his remneration for the year £109,199.

Tanya Oliver, strategic director of development and public access, received a bonus of £3,396 to take her earnings to £112,306.

Amanda Beer, director of personnel, received a bonus of £3,880 to take her remuneration for the year to £125,414.

Cllr Roger Gough (Con), KCC cabinet member for corporate services, said: "Looking ahead, we are clearly entering a period of restraint.

"The argument always has been that there was a need to encourage good people to join the public sector but we are living in different times and we recognise things have to change.

"We have always tried to strike a balance in terms of securing good quality people who can deliver services and getting value for money."

He refused to be drawn on whether the council was considering cutting back on senior managers as part of its wider efforts to reduce costs but emphasised some directorates had already cut the number of managers.

The data also shows KCC employed 22 staff earning more than £100,000 in 2009-2010, three more than the previous year.

Overall, 541 employees earned more than £50,000 compared to 503 the previous year.

There has been growing political pressure over the issue over what has been dubbed "fat cat" public pay.

Local government minister Eric Pickles recently criticised what he described as the "bloated salaries" commonplace in local councils.

The chancellor George Osborne has also warned councils that they will need his approval if they wish to appoint someone who earns more than the Prime Minister.

Kent County Council's new group managing director Katherine Kerswell will be paid £197,000.